Oliver and Felicity: A Tale of Woe
by emmalreid23
Summary: A continuation from 3x07 documenting Oliver's feelings towards Felicity and his struggle to accept her relationship with Ray Palmer. Staying true to the main story of season 3 so far, but with a few additions of my own. Focusing mainly on the relationships with Diggle, Oliver and Felicity but a few appearance of other characters in the series.


Oliver rang Felicity once more. Straight to her voicemail. 'Dig, this isn't right!'

Diggle had been sitting on Felicity's chair searching through an FBI database for a man they had lost track of: George Yule.

'Come on, man. She's probably with a friend. You need to stop jumping to conclusions.' Diggle answered calmly. Oliver shot him a dark look – in this business you could take nothing for granted.

'Have you ever heard Felicity talk about any of her friends?' Oliver countered. Diggle looked lost in thought for a moment.

'Now that you say it, no. This place is always filled with the sound of her voice but I've never heard her talk about anything overly personal, not around me anyway.' He replied. 'But we all know how Felicity feels about you, Oliver.'

Oliver ignored the last comment. 'Something just doesn't add up here. I'm going to go to her apartment and check if she's there.'

'Want me to come with?' He asked, stretching his arms out in front of him and yawning widely.

'You should go home to Lyla and Sara, Dig.'

'Yeah, I suppose you're right. Let me know if you find her, I'll see you tomorrow.' Diggle exited through the back door leaving Oliver alone in the Arrowcave. He glanced over at the fern sitting on Felicity's desk. She'd got it because it thrives in low light conditions and said that the place needed 'sprucing' now that Oliver was basically living there.

Twenty minutes later he'd made his way across town and was parking his bike a few doors down from Felicity's house. Couldn't hurt to be cautious. He walked the path. The house was so quaint. Cosy. So very Felicity. So very unlike the mansion he grew up in. The sunflowers on either side of the pink door made him smile. Her car was gone – but she had mentioned that it was going to the garage soon to have something fixed. No lights on. He knocked on the door. Nothing. He called out, 'Felicity?' 'Felicity are you here?' Nothing. His heart rate quickened and panic slowly crept through his body. He wandered round the back of the property and peeked in the kitchen window – in the darkness he could make out a box of Lucky Charms beside the fridge and a stack of laundry by the door. He moved round the side and noticed the bathroom window was open. Oliver made his way inside very easily and switched the lights on. Nothing out of the ordinary. No sign of a struggle. Strange. He'd only been to Felicity's house a few times before; mainly just to pick her up or drop her off on his way home. He'd never been invited inside and he felt like he was breaking her trust by being there. He flicked off the lights.

A car door outside brought him back to his senses. It was bound to be Felicity. He moved to the bathroom to make his escape when his cell phone started vibrating in his pocket. Felicity.

'Hello?'

'Oliver? Sorry I didn't return any of your calls… I was with a friend.' Oliver mentally kicked himself, Dig had been right. Jumping to conclusions gets you nowhere.

'That's fine, don't worry. Is everything okay?'

'I'm not sure. I think there's someone in my house, as I pulling into the drive I could have sworn the light was on, I looked away to reverse in and now it's off. It's been a long day, but I'm freaking out a little here, could you come over and check the place out? Please?' Oliver wasn't ready to admit that he was intruder so he decided to play along.

'I'll be there in five, I'm just on my way home anyway.' Slinking out the window and closing it behind him he made his way to the back garden and jumped the fence with ease. He circled the block once and then cut through a garden further up the street – he grabbed his motorbike helmet as he passed his bike and held it under his arm. She was in her car still, clearly listening to music – drumming her fingers nervously against the steering wheel. He knocked on the window. She jumped, as he knew she would. She smiled when she realised it was him. Getting out of the car she drew breath loudly. Oliver knew this was in preparation for a babble so he waited.

'Hi, I'm really sorry for calling you this late but I'm on edge. My neighbour two doors down got burgled last week and the whole street is a little jumpy – well, I'm not jumpy as such, but it doesn't hurt to be cautious right, that's what you've always taught me? Well, this is me being cautious – I'm usually quite cautious, more now after that speeding ticket. Imagine getting caught-'

Oliver broke into a laugh. She stopped speaking instantly and smiled at the floor. Her words visibly amused him and she her cheeks flushed. He admired the way her usually creamy skin turned rosy pink because of his actions – a surge of power shot through him.

'Hi Felicity. How was your night?'

'Oh, just a standard night. My friend Ben from MIT was in Starling this weekend on business so we decided to meet for dinner. Not dinner as in a date, but like two friends having dinner, recounting old memories of college, of having no money and eating a lot of pasta. I actually had pasta tonight too – better than the stuff I usually cook. I always find it takes so long to-' she paused and inhaled. 'Sorry. You don't need to know about how I cook pasta.' Oliver had never heard of this 'friend' Ben – but he didn't pry.

'Shall we check out the house?' He asked her. She nodded and led him up the path pulling her keys from her clutch purse, her gold high heels clacking on the ground. Oliver loved the way Felicity dressed – preppy, cute, yet still unbelievably sexy. Obviously in a very understated way but still enough to turn his head each day. Tonight she was wearing a coral mini dress that showed off her shapely legs, and it had cut-out panels on the shoulders so they were exposed too. Oliver thought she looked great. The heels showed off her cute little toes – tonight painted a pastel mint green matching her short fingernails. Felicity needed short nails – she spent so much time typing away at her computer that long nails were an inconvenience to her. She unlocked the door and Oliver brushed her to the side opening the door and entering her house. He made sure to check each room thoroughly to put her mind at ease.

'All clear.' He said brightly.

'Phew. Like I said, I'm sorry. I just panicked.'

'Felicity,' he began, 'never apologise for keeping yourself safe. Any time you need my help you let me know, okay?' He looked into her blue eyes, searching for a glimpse of something more. She was guarded. He'd told her he couldn't let himself be Oliver Queen and The Arrow: after what had happened on their date he was forced to make a decision. She was a distraction – a welcome distraction – but a distraction nonetheless and he couldn't afford to make silly mistakes. He'd hurt her, bad. He knew it, and she knew he knew it, but he couldn't stay away from her. They weren't spending as much time together now she was working for Ray Palmer at 'Palmer Technologies' the former 'Queen Consolidated'. Oliver had nothing against Ray himself, but resented the fact that his father's business now belonged to someone else and was no longer named after the man himself. Diggle had said to Oliver that there may a spark between Felicity and Ray – in terms of IQ they were evenly matched – but Oliver knew how Felicity felt about him. The same way he felt about her – unspoken love and mutual understanding. He flashed back to the night of the siege when Slade's men terrorised Starling – he'd taken Felicity to the mansion to 'protect' her, or at least that's what he made Slade believe. He'd really given Felicity the cure and the whole plan was for her to get close enough to Slade to administer it. It all worked out. His mind jumped -

'Slade took Laurel because he wants to kill the woman I love.'

'I know, so?'

'So he took the wrong woman.' He could still see the instant recognition in her eyes – the way her breath caught in her throat. Her lips forming an 'o'. He'd said those three words and he couldn't take them back. He told himself it was all for Slade, it was an act. But as he left her there and made his way back to the city he couldn't help but be terrified as to what Slade might do to her. He'd shut those thoughts down instantly. Slade was a showman, and Oliver knew that he would only kill Felicity if Oliver was there to watch it – and he wasn't going to let that happen.

The yowl of a cat brought him back to his senses.

'Long night?' Felicity questioned him.

'Yeah, I'm beat.'

'I'll see you tomorrow at the club.' She said simply. It was a subtle hint for him to leave. 'Thanks for stopping by.'

'Anytime!' he called as he made his way down the path, cursing under his breath as he realised she was slipping away from him.


End file.
